Ebay looking to take advantage of wearable adoption

The wearable revolution that’s taking place as we speak is leading to a lot of companies jumping onto the bandwagon. Some of them are trying to crowd fund wearables, others are jumping right in and making their own and others still are looking to produce software for the growing audience of users. That latter group is the one that Ebay falls into, as it has updated its smartphone app to add Apple Watch support, which will give the thousands of new users the ability to check their account status while on the move.

This isn’t the first Smart Watch app that Ebay has ever released, since it debuted one for the Pebble Smart watch and Galaxy Gear wearables a couple of years ago. However, the uptake of Apple’s new device is expected to be much more wide spread, so this represents Ebay’s best chance yet to get its services onto people’s wrists.

Is there enough screen space for an auction app?

It’s a wise move, as the Apple Watch is expected to be one of, if not the most popular wearable in the world before long. While it is likely to be overtaken by more featureful and cost effective wearables in the future, in the next year or so its user base is going to be explosive, so getting in there early is a good idea. The app will offer users the ability to view items that they are selling or watching, thereby giving them the chance to update their bid if needed, or get an item ready for postage if it’s nearly sold.

It’s also hoped that having access on the move will mean that users can reply to messages from those buying their products more quickly, making the service more efficient and responsive than before.

The question remains however, whether checking online auctions is something people will want to do on their wrist, rather than on their phone. As functional as the latest generation of smartwatches are, they fall far behind traditional mobile handsets in terms of their features and above all, screen space, meaning that doing something detailed like auction management on a smartwatch may not be as feasible as Ebay would like it to be.

What do you think? Would you be interested in checking your auction details on your wrist, or would you rather leave that for your smartphone or tablet?